Grant Show (born February 27, 1962) is an American actor. Show is widely known for his role on Melrose Place as Jake Hanson, which he played from 1992 to 1997. From 2017 to 2022, he portrayed Blake Carrington in the soap opera reboot Dynasty.
Early life Born in Detroit, Michigan, Show is the son of Ed and Kathleen Show (née McMillion), and has a sister, Kelly, with whom he was raised in the Milpitas, California, area. He is a graduate of UCLA, where he was a member of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity.
Career He broke into show business during college. His first major role was on the daytime soap opera Ryan's Hope, in which he played Rick Hyde from 1984–1987. During his last year on the show, he received a Daytime Emmy nomination for "Outstanding Young Actor in a Daytime Drama Series". Also, during his time on the soap, Show dated fellow Ryan's Hope actor Yasmine Bleeth. Hyped as the series' leading heartthrob, he even had a pin-up poster issued during the series' run but later became dissatisfied with acting in soaps and went to London in order to improve his craft. Returning to the United States in the late 1980s, he landed occasional primetime television acting jobs.
He auditioned for (but did not receive) the part of J.D in the 1991 film Thelma & Louise, which was a break-out role for Brad Pitt. The other two actors who missed out after auditioning with Geena Davis were Mark Ruffalo and George Clooney, whom she did not recognise until he reminded her of his disappointment at missing out on the role several years later, a tale she recounted on The Graham Norton Show.
His appearances on television attracted the attention of producer Aaron Spelling, who felt he had star potential and decided to cast him as Jake Hanson on a few episodes of the popular series Beverly Hills, 90210 in order to spin off the character as the lead in his next series Melrose Place. Debuting with much fanfare (Show was on the covers of both TV Guide and People immediately after the series' debut), the series' ratings in its first season were not up to expectations, and the show was revamped in the middle of the first season from an episodic strait-laced drama format to a melodramatic soap opera serial format in the tradition of Dynasty, one of Spelling's earlier hits. The series made Show one of the most popular and best-known actors on American television during the 1990s. He also played Jake in a guest appearance in the pilot of the Melrose spin-off Models Inc., making him the only actor to play the same character on the first three shows in the Beverly Hills, 90210 franchise.
During his time on Melrose Place, Show also appeared on an episode of Saturday Night Live hosted by Laura Leighton. In 1997, Show, Leighton (an off-screen girlfriend of Show's for a period), Doug Savant, Courtney Thorne-Smith and Marcia Cross left Melrose Place, which led the show into a major decline. It was cancelled two years later, though Show later regretted his decision to leave, despite his dislike of the scripts during his final season.
He has since starred in a number of television movies, including Blessed Assurance with Cicely Tyson, Between Love and Honor with Robert Loggia, and Homeland Security with Tom Skerritt and was one of the leads in the short-lived Fox Network supernatural drama Point Pleasant in 2005. He made a guest appearance in three episodes of HBO's acclaimed series Six Feet Under in 2002, and in 2006 he guest-starred on two episodes of the ABC Family show Beautiful People, alongside former Melrose Place co-star Daphne Zuniga.
In 2007, Show appeared in three episodes of the FX show Dirt, playing a closeted gay action movie hero, Jack Dawson. In 2008, Show starred in the short-lived CBS summer drama series Swingtown as an airline pilot, Tom Decker. Show was also featured in a recurring role in episodes of Private Practice in the 2008–2009 season. He starred opposite Jenna Elfman in the 2009 series Accidentally on Purpose, his first sitcom. In the 2010 and 2011 season, he appeared in the recurrent role of Michael Sainte, the Goji Guru, on the HBO series Big Love. He has acted in a number of stage productions. In 1990, he played the lead in an adaptation of On the Waterfront and after his stint on Melrose Place he appeared in a production of The Glass Menagerie. He was on Broadway in 1999 playing a doctor in Wit. In 2012, he appeared in the film The Possession, directed by Ole Bornedal, alongside Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Kyra Sedgwick. In 2013, he began his role as Spence Westmore on Devious Maids. In March 2017, he was cast in The CW's Dynasty reboot as Blake Carrington.
Personal life Grant Show married model and actress Pollyanna McIntosh in 2004. The couple met when they posed together for a Lane Bryant ad in 2003. They were divorced in 2011. In July 2012, Show became engaged to actress Katherine LaNasa. They married on August 18, 2012. They had a daughter in 2014.
Filmography
Film Year Title Role Notes 1992A Woman, Her Men, and Her Futon Randy1992CoopersmithCD Coopersmith 2004Marmalade Aiden 2007Raw Footage Mitch Graham Short film 2007The Girl Next Door Mr. Moran 2009All Ages Night Jeff Markham 2011Action Figures Bruce 2011Fxxxen Americans John Short film and also co-producer 2011Born to Race Jimmy Kendall 2011Coming Up for Air Bill Short film 2012Mindfield Murphy Short film 2012The Possession Brett 2014Born to Race: Fast Track Jimmy Kendall
Television Year Title Role Notes 1984−1987Ryan's Hope Rick Hyde Series regular; 5 episodes 1985ABC Afterschool Special Gregory Prince III Episode: "Cindy Eller: A Modern Fairy Tale" 1986The Love Boat Christopher Stuart 2 episodes 1989When We Were Young Michael Stefanos TV movie 1989−1990True Blue Cadet Casey Pierce Series regular; 12 episodes 1990Lucky Chances Marco Miniseries 1992Treacherous Crossing Chief Stevens TV movie 1992Beverly Hills, 90210Jake Hanson 2 episodes 1992Coopersmith C.D. Coopersmith TV movie 1992–1997Melrose Place Jake Hanson Series regular; 158 episodes 1994Burke's Law Dash Thornton Episode: "Who Killed the Starlet?" 1994Models Inc. Jake Hanson Episode: "Pilot" 1994TexasWilliam B. Travis TV movie 1995Between Love and Honor Steve Allie Collura TV movie 1995Saturday Night Live Jake Hanson 1 episode 1996Hope and Gloria Himself 1 episode 1996Pretty Poison Dennis Pitt TV movie 1997Mother Knows Best Ted RogersTV movie 1997The Price of Heaven Jerry ShandTV movie 1998Ice Robert DrakeTV movie 1999Partners Elliott Thompson Episode: "A Beautiful Day" 1999The Alchemists Connor MalloyTV movie 2000Ed Troy McCallum Episode: "Your Life Is Now" 2001UC: Undercover John Keller 2 episodes 2002Six Feet Under Scott Axelrod 3 episodes 2002Arli$$ Trevor Lawson Episode: "Playing It Safe" 2003Encrypt GarthTV movie 2003Sex and the Single Mom Alex LoftonTV movie 2004Strong Medicine Ben Sanderson 5 episodes 2004Mystery Girl Christopher Sullivan TV Short film 2004Homeland Security Bradley BrandTV movie 2005−2006Point Pleasant Lucas Boyd Series regular; 13 episodes 2005More Sex and the Single Mom Alex LoftonTV movie 2005−2006Beautiful People Daniel Kerr 4 episodes 2007Dirt Jack Dawson 4 episodes 2008Swingtown Tom Decker Series regular; 13 episodes 2008−2011Private Practice Dr. Archer Montgomery 7 episodes 2009Grey's Anatomy Dr. Archer Montgomery Episode: "Before and After" 2009Natalee Holloway George "Jug" TwittyTV movie 2009−2010Accidentally on Purpose James Series regular; 16 episodes 2010Scoundrels Alan Markham Episode: "Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire" 2011Big Love Goji Guru 5 episodes 2011Justice for Natalee Holloway George "Jug" TwittyTV movie 2011Burn Notice Max 3 episodes 2011−2012CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Agent Viggo McQuaid 2 episodes 2013−2016Devious MaidsSpence Westmore Series regular; 44 episodes 2013The Exes Alex Episode: "Zero Dark Forties" 2015Criminal Minds Colton Grant Episode: "The Forever People" 2015Satisfaction Arthur Waverly Recurring role; 7 episodes (Season 2) 2016The Family Governor Charlie Lang 10 episodes 2017–2022DynastyBlake Carrington Main role; director: "The British Are Coming" and "There's No One Around to Watch You Drown" 2019Write Before Christmas TomTV movie
Awards and nominations +YearAwardWorkResult1987Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama SeriesRyan's HopeNominated1986Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Leading Man in a Drama SeriesNominated
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